


it's been a long, long time coming

by Sumi



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Gen, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-13 10:59:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18030461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sumi/pseuds/Sumi
Summary: A snapshot into both Hannah and Jane Shepard's mindsets when they finally see each other again.





	it's been a long, long time coming

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GuileandGall](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuileandGall/gifts).



Hannah made many mistakes in her life. She would be the first to admit that, but also double down that there was few, if any regrets she held. The one, true regret Hannah had was in regard to her only daughter, Jane Shepard. 

A life full of danger was not what Hannah wanted for Jane, but she continued on in her life despite the reservations her mother had. However, Hannah understood it was her daughter’s life in the end and she was proud regardless if she didn’t agree with any of the choices Jane made. If only she expressed that to Jane before she went to Earth to prepare for the final assault.

Now Jane lay comatose in a hospital bed after she was found in the ruins of the collapsed Citadel. The doctors didn’t have much hope for Jane’s survival. Hannah disagreed. Jane had survived things in the past that most people would have perished from and she remained convinced that this time would be no different.

Everyday Hannah visited her daughter. At the eighth week mark Hannah’s faith was proved to be a fruitful endeavor. The doctors pulled Hannah aside when she arrived that morning to tell her that she’d finally woken from the coma. Jane still was unable to speak, but she was capable of understanding everything around her. It was the news Hannah had been hoping to hear since she learned they pulled her daughter from the rubble.

The last time the two spoke was during Jane’s final shore leave. They shared phone call where Hannah made sure to tell Jane that she was proud of her, but Hannah would forever regret not telling it to her sooner. She could tell from Jane’s tone that hearing from her was a shock and possibly not a welcomed one. It hurt Hannah that she and her daughter’s relationship had become so strained, but Jane wasn’t the only one to blame. Hannah had the same amount, if not more blame on her shoulders than Jane did.

“Hi honey. I’m so glad you’re finally awake,” Hannah whispered after the doctors gave her the clear to enter the room. She felt the tears starting to come the second she and Jane locked eyes.

Seeing Jane awake was such a welcomed sight. Hannah decided at that moment to finally let go of her emotions and let the tears take over. She rushed over to Jane whose own eyes were shining with tears. The urge to embrace her was quickly squashed down for fear of hurting Jane or disturbing all of the tubes and machines hooked to her. Instead, Hannah just brushed a hand over her cheek as gently as she could.

Hannah let out a sob soft she refused to hold back. “I couldn’t be more proud to have a daughter like you. Please remember that.”

It was something Hannah would forever wish she said more often.

~*~

Jane was surprised for two reasons when she woke up in the hospital bed with a tube down her throat. For one, Jane never expected to survive the destruction of the Citadel and two, finding out her mother had been a frequent visitor was a shock in itself. The two of them had drifted apart over the past decade or so. Jane couldn’t pinpoint why this happened. A part of the reason was their busy careers, but Jane knew it was so much more than that.

When Hannah finally came to see her that morning, Jane found herself reminded of the last time they had spoken. It had been a surprising call Jane hadn’t been expecting and the entire thing left her unsure of how to feel.

_Jane decides the best time to call her mother is before the party is about to start because this way she won’t be totally smashed. She dials the number and feels the nerves in her stomach come to life when the other side picks up._

_“Hannah Shepard here.”_

_“Hi mom,” Jane responds in a tone that was similar to one she spoke to her superiors in._

_“Oh honey it is so good to hear your voice!”_

_She blinks, not expecting her mother to say that. “This is a surprise. It’s been a long time since we spoke.”_

_“It has. I just felt I needed to-- I think about you every day. I try not to worry,” she murmured. “The other day I was remembering the bedtime stories we used to make up. You had your own ship and crew. The stories were always filled with adventure and danger.”_

_The conversation shift to Jane’s childhood throws her for a loop. However, Hannah sounds genuine and if Jane listens close enough she could swear her voice has a hitch in it. “Oh, yeah. Huh. Haven’t thought about that in awhile.”_

_“Me neither. You’d always swoop in to stop the bad guys and save the day. Now I look at you and you’re there. Even when you were little, you dreamed of the life you had now.”_

_“Is, um, this the reason you wanted me to call?” Jane asks, her professional tone fading more and more._

_“No… I just want you to know that I am proud of you honey. So proud.”_

_Jane blinks again, her mouth feeling like it has cotton in it. She should say thank you, but the only thing she can think of to say is to ask: Why? Why say this now?_

_“Jane?”_

_“Yeah, I’m still here mom, but I have to go. My crew and I are throwing a party and I still need to finish setting up.”_

_“Oh, well have fun.”_

_“I will.”_

_She hangs up, unsure of how to feel about the whole thing._

__

"Hi honey. I’m so glad you’re finally awake"

It's these words that pull Jane out of her memory. She looks at her and the tears in her mother’s eyes surprise Jane. It makes her own eyes well up with tears.

“I couldn’t be more proud to have a daughter like you. Please remember that,” Hannah said, after she approached the bed.

She waited a long time to hear those words. They are long overdue, but Jane couldn’t be happier to have heard them and have her mother by her side now.


End file.
